Schema

What is it? You’ve heard the expression a “place for everything, and everything in its place?” As we seek meaning our brains help us by grouping related facts and concepts together schematically. For each idea or concept we have a schema. Schema is sometimes referred to as a “mental model.” We may or may not be aware of the schema we hold for a given concept. Our schema is developed based on our prior knowledge and experiences. Here is what my schema for “fences” looks like: I first encountered schema as a concept in a course called “Reading Across the Content Area.” The course goal was to provide teachers strategies for improving student reading skills….